Kenya says it has finalized negotiations over a trade deal two months after announcing a preliminary agreement that would grant Nairobi duty-free access to the Chinese market.
According to a report by Reuters, the preliminary agreement would give Kenya 98 percent of its exports duty-free access to the Chinese market.
Kenya has been forging closer ties with China, with President William Ruto making a state visit to Beijing last year, during which a number of financing and cooperation agreements were signed. The two countries’ bilateral trade is currently heavily tilted in favor of China.
Reuters quoted Kenyan President William Ruto as saying, “We have this week finalized negotiations with the Government of the People’s Republic of China on a bilateral trade agreement.”
The country is also negotiating a separate bilateral trade agreement with the Trump administration. Defending his country’s engagement with China, Ruto said Kenya is keen to tap into the huge Asian market.
Ruto said on Wednesday that the Kenyan economy has been resilient in the past year, with inflation and the shilling remaining stable. According to him, foreign direct investment exceeded 2 billion dollars for the first time in 2025, up over 15 percent from the previous year.
